Johnny Strange, Malibu adventurer, parachutes onto North Pole

By 17, Johnny Strange had already climbed the world's seven highest mountains - one on each continent, including Kilimanjaro and Everest.

And this week, the now-20-year-old from Malibu parachuted out of a helicopter at 8,000 feet over the North Pole, becoming the youngest ever to complete the Explorers Grand Slam.

The series of challenges consist of climbing the Seven Summits and reaching the North and South poles, believed to have been accomplished by less than 30 people.

"I'm pretty exhausted," the USC student wrote by email after his North Pole sky dive. "And I still have some homework to do."

The days leading up to the jump had been nerve-racking for his father, Brian R. Strange, an L.A.-based class-action attorney and adventurer in his own right who climbed Mount Everest with his son in 2009.

The elder Strange, who had been planning to go to the North Pole with his son before their plans fell through, had been worried about parachuting in the icy Arctic weather and was anxious to hear how the jump went.

"It was cold, but the real scary part was if it's cold enough, it could freeze his pull cords," the attorney said. "I was waiting for the call. Sometimes you never know what the call's going to be when it comes in."

The sky dive had been planned for today. But weather conditions looked right, and Johnny Strange took the plunge Tuesday night.

And Brian Strange got the call he had been waiting for.

"I was relieved that everything went smoothly," he said. "And I was happy for him, because I know he had this desire to break the Explorers Grand Slam record."

As he did on Everest's summit, once he landed at the North Pole, Johnny Strange unfurled posters proclaiming "Stop Genocide" and "Cure Parkinson's" - two issues the adrenaline junkie feels strongly about.

A close family friend is fighting the disease, and the thrill-seeker wants to help bring attention to genocides that are still occurring in parts of the world.

"I have been fortunate enough to travel the world and genocide is a terrible thing that still occurs," Strange said in a press statement. "I want to open people's eyes to the issue and get them interested to help stop genocide."

At the University of Southern California, Strange is currently studying political science but planning to switch majors to film and media.

"I'm a college student, and only have a limited amount of time to do these things before I step into the real world," Strange said. "I have to make the best out of what little time I have, and breaking this record is something I have been working towards for the past eight years."

The sky dive was the latest in a list of extreme feats he can already cross off his bucket list before even being old enough to legally drink.

He first climbed Mount Vinson, the tallest mountain in Antarctica, at age 12. There's no official record, but it's believed that he was the youngest to do so.

He made headlines when he climbed Australia's Mount Kosciuszko , which stands at 7,310 feet, soon after conquering Everest in 2009.

Strange is also an avid BASE jumper (using a parachute to jump from a fixed object), downhill skater and surfed 30-foot waves in Portugal last year.

He plans to work on breaking the record for fastest speed for downhill skateboarding, which currently stands at 80 mph. He had been planning to swim the English Channel with his father, but was stymied by bad weather. They plan to try again.

The pair is also hoping to get permission from the Bhutanese to climb the sacred Gangkhar Puensum, the tallest mountain at 24,840 feet in Bhutan that remains unclimbed.

Strange also took some heat in 2010 after he was caught car-surfing on the roof of a BMW driving down Pacific Coast Highway, a stunt that has claimed the lives of several teens.

"I know some people think what I do is irresponsible because of the risk," Strange said. "But the day I let my fear deter my ability to follow my dreams, I have already died."